Parasha Matot (Tribes) Num.30:2–32:42; Jer.1:1–2:3; Matt.23:1–39
By Raphael ben Levi
“Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes (matot) of the people of Israel, saying, ‘This is what the LORD has commanded. If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.’” (Num. 30:1–2)
Parshat Matot begins with a passage about vows and oaths. It uses vocabulary that was later adopted for “Kol Nidrei”, the opening prayer in synagogues regarding the annulment of vows at Yom Kippur.
Its position near the end of the book of Numbers is one the sages found strange. In the second verse, it states that “…if a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” (Num. 30:3). It comes right before the Israelites entered the Promised Land which God had promised them consistently through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob although the Israelites frequently failed to believe. Freedom depends upon people keeping their word. God always does but we are not so good at it… Who are the people who hold us accountable?
The prosperity of the Israelites in the new land they were about to enter would be ultimately dependant not by force but by the people honouring Torah in their commitment to God made repeatedly during their wilderness wanderings that what He commanded, they would do. Sadly, this was relentlessly broken leading to anarchy as we see described in the Book of Judges.
A covenantal society is one in which words are holy and sacrosanct, so how much more should we as believers be held accountable in this area?
It is clear from Scripture that making a vow, (neder), a sacred promise to God (Num 30:2) or making an oath is a matter of great seriousness: Again, let me emphasise verse 2 of the opening chapter: “If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.’”
In other words God expects us to keep our promises no less than we expect Him to do the same. Just imagine if God’s promises were unreliable? And yet God is ever faithful: (2Tim. 2:12-13)
“If we were joined with him in his death, then we are joined with him in his life! 12 If we are joined with him in his sufferings, then we will reign together with him in his triumph. But if we disregard him, then he will also disregard us. But even if we are faithless, he will still be full of faith, for he never wavers in his faithfulness to us.”
But how does all this apply to our lives and the manner in which we live, for surely this is a question that is central to why it is positioned in the closing section of Numbers right before the Israelites entered the Promised Land. But first we must differentiate between a vow or an oath.
Making oaths was common in ancient Israel that was adopted from the pagan nations. People would make a promise to another person and then add an oath such as, “in the name of (adding particular pagan deity) or “so help me God”. So, it was used to add authority to a promise. Yeshua strongly condemned the use of oaths:
“34 But I tell you, never swear an oath. Don’t swear an oath using the name of heaven, because heaven is God’s throne. 35 Don’t swear an oath using the name of the earth, because the earth belongs to God. Don’t swear an oath using the name of Jerusalem, because that is the city of the great King. 36 Don’t even swear by your own head, because you cannot make one hair on your head become white or black. 37 Say only yes if you mean yes, and no if you mean no. If you say more than yes or no, it is from the Evil One.” (Matt. 5)
In other words, Yeshua discouraged true believers from adding any emphasis to promises made because it represented a pagan practice characterised by insincerity. One’s word itself should be sufficient for anyone with integrity, a character trait that every believer should have.
James ch.5 also contain strong words concerning this. “2 Above all we must be those who never need to verify our speech as truthful by swearing by the heavens or the earth or any other oath. But instead we must be so full of integrity that our “Yes” or “No” is convincing enough and we do not stumble into hypocrisy.”
In modern times, most people don’t think twice to swear oaths in the worst sense that blaspheme the name of God. The 3rd commandment warns in Ex.20:7 that “…You must not use the name of the Lord your God thoughtlessly; the Lord will punish anyone who misuses his name.”
What then is a vow and how does it differ from an oath? A vow in the biblical sense is simply making a sacred promise to God within covenant relationship. The most common example is the marriage vow where a couple covenant together before God for “better or for worse”.
In biblical times, making vows to the Lord was common. For example, in Ps 50 we read: “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High…” (Ps.22:25:65:1) In Num.29:30, a vow was considered an offering unto God as an act of worship. The Israelites were instructed by Moses: “These (offerings) you shall offer to the Lord at your appointed feasts, in addition to your vow offerings and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your grain offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.”
Another example can be found in Acts 18, where Paul made a Nazarite vow for a short period of time and at the end of his vow shaved his head as was the custom to do at the end to signal that the special time of promise was ended.
What happens when a vow is broken either intentionally or unintentionally? The Bible makes it clear that where there is true repentance, there is Divine forgiveness but we should not forget the measure of seriousness to which God regards any promise made to Him.
Provision was made for anyone who broke a vow in both the old and new covenants. In Lev. 5 it states that,
“4 (if) someone might make a promise before the Lord without thinking. It might be a promise to do something bad or something good; it might be about anything. Even if he forgets about it, when he remembers, he will be guilty.
5 “‘When anyone is guilty of any of these things, he must tell how he sinned. 6 He must bring an offering to the Lord as a penalty for sin; it must be a female lamb or goat from the flock. The priest will perform the acts to remove that person’s sin so he will belong to the Lord.”
For believers, God cleanses us from all sin through the shed blood of Yeshua through true repentance. But, Scripture warns us never to make rash promises and we can be protected in this when we walk in close communion with Him. When we do so we have the promises in Rom.12:3 that “…as a result, you will be able to discern what God wills and whatever God finds good, pleasing, and complete.”
There are many examples in Scripture where people made conditional promises to God – ‘If You do a certain thing for me, I will in return vow to sacrifice something that I hold precious and give it to You.’ The highest kind of vow before God is when there are no pre-conditions or escape clauses.
Perhaps the saddest example of a reckless vow is found in Judg.11 concerning the story of Jephthah, son of Gilead, leader of the Israelites. He was the son of a harlot, who made a vow without counting the cost to himself or to others. Jephthah made the following statement to the LORD:
“If you will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.” (Judg.11:30-31)
Although he clearly had strong leadership skills and qualities, his personal ambitions and craving for acceptance among his people clouded his judgment and led to him making a rash promise without any necessity to do so: “If you will give me victory over the Ammonites, 31 then I will make a burnt offering of the first thing that comes out of my door to meet me when I return in victory.” (vs. 34-36)
When he came to his house in Mizpah, he was greeted by his daughter, his only child, who came out dancing to meet him with timbrels and dancing. What was potentially a cause for great celebration ended in calamity. All Jephthah’s daughter could ask was to go in mourning for a short period of time. Although she was not literally offered up as a burnt offering, because that would have been a blatant violation of Torah, the ‘burnt offering’ referred to was understood to mean that she would sacrifice the rest of her life without husband or children – her future was burnt to ashes and the ramifications for Jephthah were equally bleak. As a consequence, his lineage came to an abrupt end, a severe judgement worse than any other curse.
And yet, despite this Jephthah is included in Heb.11:32 as a hero of faith because he stayed true to God even in face of the worst possible circumstances. But it also serves as a salutary warning about the words we speak and the promises we make.
Yeshua said, “Let your yes be yes and your no be no.” (Matt 5:37) because our words carry power. Our very salvation is part dependant upon them. Listen to what Yeshua had to say:
“But I tell you, on the day of judgment people will have to give an accounting for every careless or useless word they speak. 37 For by your words [reflecting your spiritual condition] you will be justified and acquitted of the guilt of sin; and by your words [rejecting Me] you will be condemned and sentenced.” (Matt 12:36-37). It is not our good deeds that will save us but our confession of faith that is reflected by the life we live. Paul wrote that “…if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognising His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom.10:9)
Words clearly hold enormous power. God Himself spoke the universe into existence bestowing life to each one of us. They contain no neutrality: they either minister life or death: blessings or curses! (Jam 3:7-12) This should make us cautious about the manner of what we speak over others and ourselves. Let’s choose life!
When we minister it to others, we discover that He has bestowed upon us, as His vessels, a most powerful gift that can transform lives – the Word made flesh! How wonderful when we minister His word and we see people healed, changed, turned upside down as they discover the reality of the resurrected Lord! His love and peace that passes understanding is like water in the desert that can never run dry!
